Book #36: Sacred Cows by Rosalind Coward
Number of pages: 219
Sacred Cows looks critically at feminism's achievements and asks that most un-PC of questions - do we need feminism any more or is it damaging relations between men and women, demonizing men and denying them the right to understanding and equality in a society that is harsher for them than ever before?
The whole concept behind this book could be the subject of a satire as well as a serious essay, and it piqued my interest many years ago when I first bought this book. I wanted to re-read it for ages, and this time I felt that I got more out of it.
The book starts with a "potted history" of the feminist movement, with several references to Margaret Thatcher and the feminist Germaine Greer, examining traditional expectations of how both men and women should behave. It also touched on subjects including sexual harassment and rape, that feel more relevant with some of today's current news stories, particularly those involving Harvey Weinstein.
The book was written in 1999, so reading it nowadadys, some of the comments feel a bit dated - there are a lot of references to 1990s pop culture, and comments about what Tony Blair's New Labour hoped to achieve, set in the future tense; I'd be interested to see what changes would be made in an updated version of the book.
The concept sounds provocative, but Rosalind Coward's arguments seemed reasonably balanced, and very comprehensive, with the conclusion that feminism is definitely okay, but neither men or women should feel like they are "losing out" as a result.
While this is a slightly dated book, it nevertheless proved fascinating reading and I found it hard to put this down.
Next book: Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)